REVIEW: ‘Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation’ Season 3 Cour 1 Delivers A Mostly Solid Set Of Episodes

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 3, Cour 1, produced by Studio Bind, returns to Rudeus (Yumi Uchiyama, To Your Eternity) as his life continues to bring the happiness he’s always wanted. But such times are fragile, and sometimes the difference between keeping such joy and losing it can come down to something as small as opening a door. 

The opening half of season three gets off to an incredible start. Kicking off its run is the return of Eris  (Ai Kakuma, Arknights: Rise from Embers) to the series. As the series explores what she and Ghislaine (Megumi Toyoguchi, Marriagetoxin) have been up to, a pair of episodes delivers powerful storytelling as Eris strives to strengthen herself so she can stand shoulder to shoulder with Rudeus.

Eris’s physical and mental struggles drive home how much her goals mean to her. This not only crafts a compelling opening narrative, but also shapes the audience’s view of the character, given how much pain her abrupt departure caused Rudeus.

The narrative does a great job crafting a meaningful story within these episodes, even managing to build strong supporting characters to prop up Eris, despite the relatively short time. The only disappointment with this opening is that it doesn’t get a proper payoff, as the cour ends with Eris still not back in the main plot.

The next set of episodes focus on slice-of-life storytelling with mixed results. Some moments, like Zenith’s progress in regaining her awareness, bring joyful beats that shine. Others, however, cannot help but stumble over some of the series’ biggest problems.

The back half of Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 3, Cour 1 is a bit more cohesive than its start.

Seeing Roxy (Konomi Kohara, Sentenced to be a Hero) once more training Rudeus in magic conjures uncomfortable feelings, as the protagonist’s wife cannot help but picture her husband as he was when she first taught him, when he wasn’t even ten. The series would be better served not reminding us of this element of their relationship. 

The back half of Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 3, Cour 1 is a bit more cohesive, as the group finds itself with a more focused task. Nanahoshi’s (Shion Wakayama, Arknights: Endfield) work to discover a way to return to our world continues, and with new successes, she decides to return to her patron, Perugius (Rikiya Koyama, Dragon Ball Daima), to report her findings. However, when she is taken ill, Rudeus and others must search for a cure for what ails her. 

This stretch of episodes is the highlight of the cour overall. It blends character interaction, emotional struggles, and even a dash of action well, all delivered within the most focused narrative stretch the cour puts together. It even sees the return of a familiar face from the Demon Continent from all the way back in season one.

The writing isn’t confident enough in how interesting it is without making Redeus too sympathetic.

While Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 3, Cour 1 hit its stride here, the series comes apart in the final set of episodes. A warning from a shocking source saves Rudeus from making a choice that would see him spiral into self-destruction, taking much of his family with him. 

On the face of it, these episodes should craft an excellent sense of stakes for the coming adventure that spawns out of the information they give. However, they are so poorly implemented that they do little more than push overwrought despair and questionable choices onto the characters.

The potential dangers Rudeus is warned about fall flat because they feel out of tone. The level of failure, punishment, and pain apparently set to be unleashed on Rudeus if he makes the wrong choice feels unbelievable. The writing isn’t confident the audience will care unless it strips Rudeus of absolutely everything to make him sympathetic. If they think the audience dislikes him that much, there are better ways to work on that than to foretell death and despair for his future. 

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 3, Cour 1 is filled with highs and lows.

What makes these over-the-top dramatics even worse is how they are delivered. Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 3, Cour 1 spends an entire episode telling Rudeus what will happen via his unexpected visitor. Then, it spends the following episode showing what happens as Rudeus reads a journal left by his unlikely ally. 

Telling, then showing Rudeus’ entire future, is redundant and only serves to annoy. It would’ve been far better to weave the visuals in with the initial warning via narration and make that take two episodes, rather than splitting the two forms of storytelling apart. This approach feels like the worst possible option. 

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 3, Cour 1 is filled with highs and lows. It has great beats in both its slice-of-life elements and its adventuring, but it has just as many low points to counter them. Coupled with the lack of a true focus for much of the run, this stretch of episodes feels like a miss that is largely spinning its wheels, waiting for the following cour to launch into the next real arc. 

Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation Season 3, Cour 1 is streaming now on Crunchyroll.

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